Neonatal mortality figures stagnant since 2003: experts

The seminar,a collaboration between the Unicef and NGO Heal (Heal Essayists and Authors League),was attended by leading experts in the field,including Dr Rajesh Mehta,National Professional Officer with the World Health Organisation,Dr Neelam Kler,chairperson of the Department of Neonatology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital,and Dr Vinod Paul,HoD,Paediatrics,AIIMS.

Of the four million neonatal deaths globally,India alone accounts for almost one-fourth — 0.9 million. Another 55 babies die per thousand within the first year of birth.

“While rural India accounts for a majority of these deaths,going by the data,income does not play a major role,” said Dr Paul,also the director of the WHO collaborating centre on newborn health for Southeast Asia.

Kerala,he said,which has a lower per capita income than Punjab,has lowered the infant mortality figure to 7,slightly higher than 5,the figure in developed countries,which is also the Millennium Development Goal.

In comparison,Punjab,which has the highest per capita income in the country,registered 29 deaths per thousand while Bihar,one of the low-income zones,had a figure of 28. Orissa has a figure of 48 per thousand,worse than many African states. “It is not about being rich,it is about doing the right thing,” Dr Paul said.

The reason,experts said,could be socio-economic,including education,low age of women at marriage and childbirth,inadequate nutrition and lack of the minimum three-year interval between births.

“Simple interventions can cut down the figure by a considerable margin,” said Dr Henri Vanden Hombergh,Chief Health,Unicef India. The main reasons of infant mortality are lack of breastfeeding,providing inadequate warmth to the baby after birth,and infections. Field workers said illiteracy and superstition make awareness an uphill task.

Neonatal mortality figures
TOP FIVE
* Orissa/Madhya Pradesh 49
* Uttar Pradesh 48
* Rajasthan 44
* Chhattisgarh 41
* J&K 39

BOTTOM 5
* Kerala 7
* Delhi 20
* Tamil Nadu 23
* Maharashtra 25
* Karnataka 26

All figures courtesy Unicef,2007